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By Christina Poursanidou, Lawyer /  Legal and Compliance Officer  During 2019, the total number of fines imposed globally for violation of money laundering regulations was estimated to €370 million. Strangely enough, such fines did not worry bank CEOs and boards, which instead of improving their anti-money laundering (AML) procedures, keep on operating with insufficient due diligence standards, improper management of AML measures and   poor transaction monitoring. The result?   €600 million in AML monetary penalties within the first six months of 2020. Within the context of the European Union, during 2020 National Financial Supervisors have imposed heavy fines to a number of credit institutions, such as Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB , known as SEB   (€125 million), Deutsche Bank (€13.5 million), Commerzbank (€41 million) and Swedbank (€320 Million). These money laundering cases involving high-profile EU financial institutions have highlighted that the EU’s approach to combatti

In Chamber judgment in the case of Efstratiou and Others v. Greece (application no. 53221/14) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been no violation of Article 6 (right to a fair trial / right of access to a court) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The applicants in this case considered that the refusal by the court of appeal and the Court of Cassation to take account of evidence which they considered as decisive for the outcome of the case had been excessively formalistic. Those courts had considered that the documents in question had not been presented to the court of appeal in accordance with the requirements of Article 240 of the Greek Code of Civil Procedure. The Court held, in particular, that the statement given by a witness for the applicants at the hearing before the court of appeal, had fairly accurately reflected the substance of the document (a sworn statement), which the court of appeal had dismissed on the grounds that it ha

60 years ago, on 14 November 1960, the Court delivered its first judgment, Lawless v. Ireland, with René Cassin as its President. The judgment concerned preliminary objections and procedural questions regarding the application, on which a judgment on the merits was delivered the following year. Since its inauguration the Court has delivered 23,291 judgments on just over 51,650 applications. The case was filed by Gerard Richard Lawless, who had been an IRA member, although he claimed to have left the IRA. He was arrested on 11 July 1957, as he was about to travel to Great Britain from Ireland, and subsequently detained under the special powers of indefinite detention without trial under the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1940. The case was filed by Lawless for violation, by the Irish Government, of Articles 5, 6 and 7 of the European Convention of Human Rights, providing rights to liberty and security, fair trial and the principle of 'no punishment without law'

Three persons have been sentenced to prison by the court of first instance (tribunal) in Genoa, Italy, as a judicial follow-up to an operation run by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the Italian Guardia di Finanza. The operation’s code-name was ‘Paper Castle’. Ended roughly two years ago, it had uncovered a fraud scheme that stretched over several EU Member States and involved a set of companies, some of which only existed on paper. €1.4 million were defrauded from EU funds intended to develop hovercraft prototypes – that is, emergency nautical vehicles able to reach remote areas in case of environmental accidents. Part of the money was used to pay the mortgage on an actual castle. Last month, two people were sentenced to several years of imprisonment for the fraud scheme. The accountant who had helped create a system of fictitious companies that went from Italy to London in the UK and to Delaware (U.S.) will also have to face jail, the court ruled. With the paper castle d

In a new Opinion on “ The role ofassociations of judges in supporting judicial independence ”, the Council of Europe’s Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) calls upon member States to provide a framework within which the right of judges to associate can be effectively exercised, and to refrain from any interventions which might infringe the independence of the associations of judges. The CCJE notes that a great variety of judges’ associations exist in Europe, in relation to their aims, the size of their membership, and the qualifications for membership. However, a common feature for them all is that they are self-governing non-profit organisations whose most important and overarching objectives are to establish and defend the independence of judges, to safeguard their status and, to ensure adequate working conditions for judges. In this way, the associations help foster and improve the rule of law. The CCJE also notes that associations of judges should be closely involved i

The European Convention on Human Rights, signed in Rome on 4 November 1950, was the first instrument to crystallise and give binding effect to the rights set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  It lays down absolute rights which can never be breached by the States, such as the right to life or the prohibition of torture, and it protects certain rights and freedoms which can only be restricted by law when necessary in a democratic society, for example the right to liberty and security or the right to respect for private and family life. A number of rights have been added to the initial text with the adoption of additional protocols, concerning in particular the abolition of the death penalty, the protection of property, the right to free elections or freedom of movement. (ECHR) The updated text of the Convention is available here

By Christina Poursanidou, Lawyer The rapid and massive spread of the Covid-19 around the world had a dramatic effect on both global health and economy. At a time when governments were focusing on designing the most effective measures to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus and all other sectors have been suspended, financial crime and especially money laundering was "blooming". Despite the fact that both the European Commission and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) had warned competent authorities, credit institutions and other obliged entities of the increased volume of money laundering during similar crises in the past, the latter did not act accordingly. Ongoing criminal investigations in banks were suspended, many countries such as the United Kingdom have extended the deadlines for submitting Annual Company Accounts, while other have relaxed supervision, reporting deadlines and due diligence requirements. These decisions had as a result the lack of transpar

Article By Paris Hadjipanayis, Lawyer The European Commission has recently issued a draft proposal [ https://ec.europa.eu/finance/docs/law/200924-crypto-assets-proposal_en.pdf ] for a potential and upcoming Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Markets in crypto-assets (MiCA) with the purpose of creating a legal framework within the European Union in its effort to assert certainty by establishing uniform rules on crypto-assets service providers and issuers on EU level currently not covered under existing financial services legislation. The goal would be to surpass numerous challenges encountered by investors and Service Providers on a transnational level that may be limited by limitations presented by different requirements for transparency and disclosure in relation to issuance and offering purposes imposed on crypto-assets by domestic legislation by each Member State. The proposed Regulation is divided in seven titles. Among the provisions which set up the sub

The European Court of Human Rights received on 28.9.2020 a request for interim measure lodged by Armenia against Azerbaijan, in which the Armenian Government requested the Court to indicate to the Azerbaijani Government, under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court (interim measures) , as follows:          “to cease the military attacks towards the civilian settlements along the entire line of contact of the armed forces of Armenia and Artsakh;            to stop indiscriminate attacks;            to stop targeting civilian population, civilian objects and settlements.” The request was lodged under the application number 42521/20 and is currently being examined. Under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, the Court may indicate interim measures to any State Party to the European Convention on Human Rights. Interim measures are urgent measures which, according to the Court’s well-established practice, apply only where there is an imminent risk of irreparable harm . Rule 39 (interim measures)

By George Kazoleas, Lawyer, Director at Legalpost.eu It is well known that employees resign not because of their job, but because of their boss. According to a recent survey, half of the employees who quit their jobs did so to escape from their bosses, while in another survey this percentage was 75%. Evaluating the research data, it is concluded that the employees who leave their jobs are useful employees, good employees, those who value themselves and their abilities and consider that they deserve better behavior and treatment from their superiors or that they deserve more opportunities and more active participation in the activity of the company. Data is similar for legal professionals working in law firms. Looking at publications and studies, one easily realizes that the younger mainly lawyers become a systematic target of bad behavior of their employers-lawyers. In fact, the bad behavior that goes as far as verbal abuse and moral harassment, has prevailed to be considered as pa

The Court of Justice dismissed the appeals brought by EUIPO and a Spanish company against the judgment of the General Court authorising football player Lionel Messi to register the trade mark ‘MESSI’ for sports equipment and clothing In August 2011, the footballer Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini filed an application with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for registration of a figurative sign as an EU trade mark, inter alia for sports and gymnastics clothing, footwear and equipment.   In November 2011, Mr Jaime Masferrer Coma filed a notice of opposition to the registration of the mark applied for by Mr Messi Cuccittini, alleging a likelihood of confusion with the EU word marks MASSI, registered, inter alia, for clothing, footwear, cycling helmets, protective clothing and gloves (the rights to those marks were transferred in May 2012 to the Spanish company J.M.-E.V. e hijos). [1] In 2013, EUIPO upheld the opposition. Mr Messi Cuccittini lodged an appeal with E